2012-12-22
2012-12-30
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>>> right now on andrea mitchell reports, senator majority leader harry reid is expected to speak at any moment now. president obama is back at the white house. his call to congressional leaders seem to have fallen on deaf ears. reid, predicting the country will go over the fiscal cliff and blames it on house speaker john boehner. >> the american people i don't think understand the house of representatives is operating without the house of representatives. it's being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker. john boehner seems to care more about keeping his speakership than about keeping the nation on firm financial footing. >> boehner's office's response? we've done our part. it's the senate democrats fall. but will the speaker call his members back before time runs out? >> at the last moment is the way these things normally happen. i think that can happen again. it just depends on putting egos aside a little bit and putting the best interests of the american people first. >> plus, keeping our kids safe, is arming educators the symptom or adding to the problem. >>> and can any

departure, the president called all four congressional leaders, reid, mcconnell, boehner and pelosi. now fiery words after reid hit boehner with volley after volley from the senate floor earlier today. >> if we go over the cliff and it looks like that's where we're headed, mr. president, the house of representatives as we speak with four days after today aren't here with the speaker having told them they'll have 48-hours notice. i can't imagine their conscie e consciences. >> speaker boehner's office responding with a terse statement saying in part, quote, senator reid should talk less and legislate more. the house already passed legislation to avoid the entire fiscal cliff. senate democrats have not. joining me now from d.c. nbc news white house correspondent peter alexander. peter, there was word the last hour that the president may have sent some sort of deal. the white house then turning around saying that's not true at all. where was the confusion? >> reporter: well, you hear the frosty statements back and forth as you just indicated there, craig. ah, the holidays in washington. a

leader harry reid is ready to introduce legislation that would avert the fiscal cliff, but only if he gets assurances from republican leaders that they won't try to block it. that standoff is creating some tension on capitol hill that spilled on to the senate floor today. >> the senate will come to order. >> reporter: in the normally genteel senate, leader reid unleashed a tirade today about house speaker john boehner, accusing him of running a dictatorship in the house. >> speaker boehner is not willing to negotiate. we have not heard a word from leader mcconnell. nothing is happening. >> reporter: mitch mcconnell, the top republican in the senate, said it's reid who hasn't reached out for weeks. >> the phone never rang. and so now here we are, five days from the new year, and we might finally start talking. >> reporter: but talking about what? so far, reid has not introduced the scaled-down bill he was reportedly working on over the christmas holiday. sources say that bill would extend the bush-era tax cuts for americans making less than $250,000 a year. with the clock ticking, reid

speakership than keeping the nation on footing. >> john boehner's office fired back -- senator reid should talk less and legislate more. the house has already passed legislation to avoid the entire fiscal cliff. >>> the president gets set to land in washington this hour. there's new word that the president has called all four congressional leaders. reid, mcconnell, boehner and pelosi. . joining me to talk more, we have peter alexander standing by at the white house as well as nbc's mike viqueira on capitol hill. some verbal smackdown, basically flipping the lights back on and harry reid taking to the floor to eviscerate speaker boehner. >> the sad part is you often seen the floor opened that way. mitch mcconnell being later today. i'm sure we'll hear something later. to hear it two days after christmas and a matter of days before we go through the fiscal cliff, obviously not encouraging. harry reid says time is running hout. he doesn't know if they could go through the legislative hurdles. if they have the votes around here, they can legislate the sky is green and the grass is blue. that's

're no longer talking about some people getting a tax increase. harry reid and john boehner for instance said -- the speaker saying the senate should take it up. harry reid is speaking on the floor. let's take a listen. >> because americans' taxes are approaching the wrong direction come the first of this year, americans will have less income than they have today. if we go over the cliff, the house of representatives, as we speak, with four days left after today before the first of the year aren't here with the speaker having told them they'll give them 48 hours notice. i can't imagine their consciences where they are around the country and we're here trying to get something done. they are not in washington, d.c. the house of representatives are not here. they couldn't even get the leadership together yesterday. they had to do it with a teleconference. republican leadership. if we go over the cliff, we'll be left with the knowledge that could have been about a single vote. mr. speaker, prior to this session starting today, the presiding officer and i had a conversation about how things have c

reid and john boehner exchange harsh words. the fiscal cliff in just five days and still no deal. the winter storm that slammed the south is now stranding thousands of travelers in the northeast and beyond. that is coming up. >>> and the russian president vladimir putin says he will sign a bill banning americans from adopting russian children. that's all ahead unless breaking news changes everything on "studio b." i'm trace gallagher in for shepard smith. first from fox at 3:00, back to work in washington, d.c. with less than five days to go before falls right off the fiscal cliff. the senate back in session today and it's the first time the senate or house has met for business between christmas and new year's in more than four decades. president obama cut his hawaii trip short arriving in washington early today. for now, the house of representatives is not in session but we've learned those lawmakers are set to return this weekend. today the senate majority leader, harry reid, says we've just about run out of time. >> if we go over the cliff, and that's where we're headed, mr. p

probably say where our senate majority leader harry reid and senator mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, because now all eyes turn to the senate. they're set to come back to town on the 27th. that is thursday. and at this point there are a number of options for some sort of bill that senate majority leader harry reid could put on the floor, but right now it appears democrats in the white house are pushing for something that still concentrates on making sure that income tax rates for those making a quarter million dollars or less don't go up. that said, it's really hard to see how at that rate senator mcconnell might allow some republican senators to support it or that some republican senators would even want to jump on board with that and even harder to see how a bill like that is something that house speaker john boehner would allow to the floor -- allow to the house floor for a vote. so things are very uncertainty point and you're hearing a lot of pessimism as we just heard from democrats and republicans about what will happen with the fiscal cliff and whether we'll go o

's court. harry reid tossed it right back. are we looking at another lost day in the negotiations? hitching a right on air force one, the new senator from hawaii and it's not what we expected it to be. here we go again. the president in washington and another deadline. secretary geithner warns we will hit the debt ceiling even before we tumble over the fiscal cliff. good morning from washington. it is thursday, december 27th. this is "the daily rundown." i'm luke russert. two days after christmas and washington is back to work trying to harsh out a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. the senate will get back from the session after holiday break. the president is expected to arrive back to the white house without his family to get back to twork mework to meet the loo deadline. mike is at the white house. let's start with you. the consensus around the hill is that we are more likely than not to go over the fiscal cliff, but there is a small chance harry reid could take a house pass bill and amend it and send it back over to the house. what are you hear being that? >> conceivably, but when the pre

and will be in session tomorrow for the same purpose. senate majority leader harry reid is trying to determine what kind of bill he can get through the senate with limited republican support. meanwhile, governor neil abercrombie of hawaii tonight announced that lieutenant governor brian schatz is as fit to feel the seat of the passed senator daniel inouye. he will leave hawaii for washington tonight and is expected to be sworn in sometime tomorrow afternoon. the democrats are wasting no time in the event harry reid needs the vote to avert the fiscal cliff. but the house? a different story. speaker john boehner held a conference call with republican leadership today, and basically decided to do nothing. there are no immediate plans to return to washington. even as that decision is made, how members have 48 hours to get there. house republican leadership released a statement today reading in part, the house has acted on two bills which collectively would avert the entire fiscal cliff if enacted. those bills await action by the senate if the senate will not approve and send them to the president to be sign

it does, the senate majority leader harry reid is expected to weigh in, in just about ten minutes on the looming fiscal cliff. reid and his fellow senators are under intense scrutiny after john boehner said the democratic controlled senate must act first on proposals already passed by his chamber. we will bring you reid's remarks as they happen. >>> as the clock ticks down toward the fiscal cliff, washington has a new worry the debt ceiling, treasury secretary tim geithner says the united states will hit its legal borrowing limit on monday. alison kosik is in new york. i feel like it's groundhog day. >> i know it really is. what's old is new again, right, carol? let me kind of back up the bus here. we start talking about the debt ceiling and i know people's eyes glaze over. let me tell you exactly what the debt ceiling is. it's a cap set by congress of the amount of money the federal government can borrow. right now the ceiling is at $16.394 trillion and treasury secretary tim geithner said earlier this week we could hit that debt ceiling on monday, on new year's eve and the treas

is spiking-- gun sales. chip reid has a look. >> at gun shows across the nation this past weekend, people stood in line hoping to get eheir hands on an a.r.-15, the military style rifle used in the newtown, connecticut, school shooting. there's been a run on a.r.-15s at gun stores, too. rick friedman owns r.t.s.p. in randolph, new jersey. >> i normally sell about 15 or 20 a month. i've sold 30 in the last three days. >> reporter: the reason he says is clear. >> because people want to make sure they can own them legally hefore they have that "right" ntken away. >> reporter: the white house said after the newtown shooting atic president obama supports a ban on assault weapons proposed by california democratic senator dianne feinstein. getting it through congress quickly is highly unlikely, but the mere mention of a ban is enough to send sales soaring. and it's not just guns. brownell's, the world's largest firearm supplier, said it morently sold more than three- and-a-half years worth of a.r.- ag magazines in three days. even before newtown, sales of guns and ammunition this year were surgi

the senate has to act. they can do whatever. we're going to say on vacation. who does harry reid have to negotiate with them? where does he go? >> the president and harry reid can only negotiate so much. >> the question becomes if they can get a bill for 250 and below perhaps with the unemployment insurance attached to it, maybe put in sweetener with the estate tax, could they guarantee that would pass the house of representatives? from the statement we do not know that. >> jared, last week it was speaker boehner himself who could not get his own bill passed, the plan "b." and yet here he is trying to put it back on democrats and the president to get the bill passed making it clear they're not prepared to come back to washington and do anything to avoid the fiscal cliff. what do you think's going to happen? >> well, i thought luke took us eloquently through all the scenarios. but to me this is all simple. it really comes down to this. is john boehner willing to introduce a compromise plan in the house of the type the president offered before he left? extend the tax cuts only for the 2

on december 31st. senate majority leader harry reid is working to see if the scaled backpackage the president laid out last week can get through congress before monday. meantime, treasury secretary timothy geithner says the government will hit the debt ceiling on monday and he is launching an emergency plan to avert a crisis. amm eamon javers is live. what do we know? >> the president is coming back early, a couple days earlier than his vacation. did a little bit of jogging, working out in the gym over his vacation. now he will be,ing would out on this fiscal cliff. the senate is coming back and the house of representatives is going to have a conference call for all republicans later on today and then yesterday, we saw the secretary of the treasury, tim geithner, announced the $16.4 trillion debt limit is going to be reached by monday, that was a little bit surprising to people who haven't been following this kind of thing and raises the stakes for the fiscal cliff end game because the white house had wanted a debt ceiling deal as part of the overall deal here on the fiscal cliff. republicans

with the president, the democratic leader in the senate, harry reid, and the republican leader mitch mcconnell have come together and they have saved the day. they did it again and again. it happened in 2010, when mitch mcconnell actually worked with joe biden to extend the bush tax cuts and they got a bunch of stimulus passed. it happened in 2011 when reid and mcconnell were key in resolving the debt ceiling fight. and people thought it could happen again this time. what's different now is mitch mcconnell is up for re-election. and it is weird to say this aloud, what i'm about to tell you. i have never even thought about how weird it is to say until tonight's broadcast. but the person mitch mcconnell has in his head right now, the person he's maybe a bit afraid of, is ashley judd. yeah. that ashley judd. >> don't cry. don't cry. you're going to be fine. >> okay. >> mitch mcconnell's up for re-election potentially against ashley judd. she might be running against him. and she's polling well. they're only about four points apart. so he doesn't want any trouble. he certainly does not want a conservat

be right. that would be senate majority leader harry reid. seemed kind of irritated that house republicans and all house members are not here in washington trying to work out a deal on the fiscal cliff. here is more from leader reid a short time ago. >> if we go over the cliff and it looks like that's where we're headed, mr. president, the house of representatives, as we speak, with four days left after today before the first of the year aren't here with the speaker having told them they will give them 8 hours notice. i can't imagine their consciences. >> reporter: of course president obama has left hawaii. he is heading back to washington from his family vacation. we learned from the white house that the president had made calls to the top four congressional leaders mcconnell and boehner on the republican side, pelosi and reid on the democratic side. we'll see what the president has in mind when he touches down back in washington a little later this morning, harris. harris: mike you mentioned it. i'm mentioning it too. it is coming into the newsroom from senator mcconnell's spokesperson a

? basically the ball is in the senate's court? >> all you have to do is look at what harry reid, the leader of the senate has been saying from day one. every time that speaker boehner put forth a common-sense plan to fix this problem, harry reid would say, right off the bat it is doa, dead on arrival. not one thing that speaker boehner proposed that reid said, oh, we can work with that. it's about scoring political points. the american people are tired of all of us, i understand that. we just make used car salesmen look good. that's the only group is below us. but we've got to get our act together, and prove to the american people that we can regain the trust that they once had in us and get the job done. and as you say, not kick the can down the road. they want to us work this out. i hope we do. >> let's talk about something a little more bright. the former marine stuck in mexico. if you don't know the story, he was basically trying to go on a surfing trip. an old winnebago and a bunch of surf boards and some sort of antique, torn apart gun that he wanted to use to hunt rabbits and birds.

anybody is actually doing anything right now. gregg: what about harry reid? what's his, does he have anything at all maybe towards the end of the week he will put on the table? i've been hearing he will put to a vote an extension of the bush tax cuts for anybody making under $250,000 a year, extend unemployment benefits for some 2 million people that are about to lose them. what are you hearing? >> right. he sounded pretty pessimistic this morning but that could change and there's, kind of a fight, procedurally between the house and the senate in a sense that if reid originates a bill in the senate that would do what you said, people in the house say, well that would be unacceptable because the constitution requires revenue bills to originate in the house. but there is this bill that the house did pass a while back extending tax cuts for everybody. the senate could actually amend that bill. it originated in the house and then send it back and actually get somewhere. you have to remember that john boehner actually gave in on the principle of raising tax rates for the highest earners.

it up to majority leader harry reid and the rest of the senate to find a possible solution. aides say reid's plan would avoid tax increases for people making less than $250,000, eliminate big spends cut and restore unemployment benefits. >> i think you're likely to see a two-step process here. one sort of dealing with the immediate dynamic so you can deal with the larger situation. >> reporter: without a deal, bush era tax cuts will expire january 1st and deep spending cuts will set in. congress set up the deadline hoping it would force a compromise. so far, that's backfired. also flying back on air force one is hawaii lieutenant governor brian schatz. he is replacing the late senator from hawaii, senator inouye. he'll likely be sworn in later today. schatz tweeted he's looking forward to supporting the president's agenda. reporting live in washington, i'm danielle leigh. >>> treasury secretary tim geithner is adding to the pressure saying the treasury may not be able to pay its bill on monday. that could lead to a credit downgrade. in his letter, geithner proposes a series of measure

to see you. within the past hour, senate majority leader harry reid spoke on the floor. he really gave it to john boehner. he got pretty personal. >> he did. he really laid the blame at boehner's lap. talked about the fact that he was surprised that the house isn't even in session, which is true, but let's get real. the senate came back into session this morning. most importantly, he was very, very pessimistic about getting anything done before we reach that fiscal cliff. listen to what he said. >> the speaker just has a few d days left to change his mind, but i have to be very honest, mr. president. i don't know time wise how it can happen now. >> let me kind of lay out the state of play. i'll try to keep it out as much as possible. this is something everybody is focused on. the ball is in the senate's court right now. so what senator reid, who you saw earlier, and the president, what they are trying to figure out is whether or not they can craft what the president called a scaled-back bill, which is what he campaigned on. raising taxes for everybody making more than $250,000 a year a

. that failed. the focus shifts to the senate. reid and mcconnell will really be charged with trying to hammer out the fine details of that deal that can make it through the senate and through the house so that is the challenge moving forward. of course, president obama here in hawaii for his christmas cray case. he played some golf over the weekend. also, attended the memorial service for the late senator daniel inouye. thomas, on a much lighter note, he asked me had i taken my flip flops out last hour. i hadn't but i did since my work is wrapping up for you guys, flip flops are out and i'm ready to join those folks on the beach behind me. >> i'm very proud of you. i don't want to jinx this by talking about when you might have to pack but is there potential that the president may wrap up the vacation a little bit earlier than expected because of, say, harry reid and mitch mcconnell are able to work something out? >> reporter: i think that that is very likely. you heard president obama sort of signal that he's going to do that when he spoke on friday. he talked about the fact he'll be seeing e

in hawaii. to beat the january 1st deadline senate majority leader harry reid is said to be crafting his own fiscal package. it would extend the bush era tax cuts for households making less than $250,000, extend long-term unemployment, short-term spending cuts, and make a scheduled drop in medicare reimbursement to doctors. house speaker john boehner said they've had no communication with senator reid. >>> the exconwho ambushed and killed two volunteer firefighters in upstate new york may have murdered his sister. her body was found yesterday, and police say william spamglor had the same kind of military rifle used in the connecticut school massacre. he left behind a chilling note. >> reporter: the christmas eve fire in western new york burned seven homes to the ground, but police say william spangler wanted to do much worse. he planned to burn down the entire neighborhood and "do what i like doing best, killing people." the 62-year-old shot at firefighters from a nearby bank. he killed two of them before taking his own life. police found his note and three guns, including a bushmaster rifle

vacation to head back to washington, while harry reid says the country is headed toward the fiscal cliff. good evening, i'm jeffrey brown. >> warner: and i'm margaret warner. on the "newshour" tonight, we have the latest on efforts to avert the looming deadline from todd zwillich of public radio international. >> brown: then, geo-politics and children: russia moves to end adoptions by american parents. >> warner: what austerity measures look like at street level: we have a report from athens. >> by the end of 2013 greece would have a worse depression than the great depression in the u.s. >> brown: a player in campaign politics, but what of the current debt debate? we talk with tea party ally, matt kibbe. >> warner: and as e.p.a. chief lisa jackson steps down, we assess the track record of the administration's environmental agency. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technolog

, was senator mitch mcconnell and here we have the majority leader in the senate, harry reid. let's listen in for a second. >> the house has reported by the press and we all know, one of the plans didn't have a name, it wasn't plan b. i don't know which plan it was because they've had a number over there. but this plan was to show the american people that the $250,000 ceiling on raising taxes wouldn't pass in the house. why didn't they have that vote? because it would have passed. they wanted to kill it. the speaker wanted to show everybody that it wouldn't pass the house. but he couldn't bring it up for vote because it wouldn't pass. republicans -- a myriad of republicans think it's the fair thing to do and of course every democrat would vote for that. the republican leader finds himself frustrated that the president has called on him to help address the fiscal cliff. he's upset because, quote, the phone never rang. he complains that i have not passed the resolution to pass the fiscal cliff but he's in error. we all know that in july of this year we passed in the senate the relief that wo

. they want to see what kind of bill harry reid brings forward on the floor. he is looking at republican leader mitch mcconnell to say what are you willing to accept? so here we are. there is blame game going on. there is lot of maneuvering still. bottom line we'll probably meet this weekend heading up to the fiscal cliff and we'll see what the final offer is to see if they can push it across the finish line. gregg: mike, we're getting word the president has nod no meaningful conversation with anybody own capitol hill, especially john boehner and yet we do hear, that, you know, the seeds have been talking. that staffers have actually been negotiating. what do you hear? >> reporter: that's right. we heard there have been ongoing discussions, taking place throughout the christmas holiday but at this point republicans are saying they took a beating, if you will, trying to lead in the house, a deal that did not go very far. so they're saying, okay, harry reid, senate democrats, see what you can do, see what you put forward and see if it is good enough to possibly pass both the senate and the

, and chip reid is in washington. >> president obama will be arriving in washington tomorrow and both houses of congress will be back in session tomorrow. that will give them just five days to put together a deal to avoid the massive automatic tax hikes and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff. >> president obama spent christmas day visiting with troops in hawaii. >> while back in washington uncertainty about the looming fiscal cliff continues. there has been to communication between republicans and democrats about how to avoid going over the cliff. before the christmas break, speaker john boehner was unable to get enough support from respects to pass his plan and help said it was up to the white house and the senate to avert the cliff. so now harry reid is believed to be crafting a plan of his own. it's expected to extend bush-era tax cuts. it would also include short-term spending cuts instead of the massive cuts that would occur if there is no deal. it would also patch up the alternative minimum tax that will hit even more middle class families and schedule a

on this issue and i thank majority leader reid for assuring we have the opportunity to debate and consider these amendments and the very important issues that they reflect here today. i urge all of my colleagues to consider carefully and then support these amendments to the f.a.a. we cannot let the impending deadline distract us from the important opportunity to conduct oversight and implement responsible reforms. to simply be rushed to passage when we have known the deadline was approaching for years strikes me as an abrogation of our fundamental oversight responsibility. in my view, this chamber deserves a full and informed debate about our intelligence-gathering procedures and their potentially very real impact on americans' privacy rights, and we need it sooner rather than later. these amendments would allow us to have that conversation and to work together on a path that strikes the essential balance between privacy and security for the citizens of these united states. thank you. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. madam president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presid

this morning while senators are coming back to capitol hill. chip reid is at the capitol. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the president arrived back in washington in a little bit more than an hour. the senate comes back tonight and the house it could be a couple of days. there is not the sense of urgency you would think there would be with a critical deadline looming. some members of congress admit they may well just go over the fiscal cliff and deal with it in january after the new congress is sworn in. leaving his family behind to continue their vacation without him, president obama boarded air force one early this morning and headed for washington to deal with unfinished fiscal cliff business. with just five days until the combination of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could send the economy back into recession, mr. obama wants congress to take the lead in getting the job done. the senate convenes later today and senate majority leader harry reid told members to be prepared to address fiscal cliff issues through the weekend. reid is workin

service for the late senator daniel inouye. harry reid is also at that event. will he talk to president obama? white house officials right not being fairly tight-lipped on that matter. not telling us if there are any meetings scheduled at this point in time. they, again, call this a working vacation and say that staffers are working on this behind the scenes. melissa? >> hang on just a second. let me bring in nbc news political editor diminico montenero. what do you think about the majority leader flying all the way to hawaii? >> i think they realized they have three options, small deal, a big deal or go over the cliff, and right now the most likely scenario is a small deal. something that puts us past the fiscal cliff but then brings the fiscal issues into the new year which has a lot of potholes for the president. has a lot of things to get done on his legislative agenda, so worried about how going over the cliff might impact the economy immediately. >> who is more likely to take the blame if we do go over this cliff? >> that's a lot of what we're seeing. that's why you see john boehn

republicans and the far left in mr. obama's party. the president met with senate majority leader harry reid this afternoon and talked with speaker boehner to begin anew that eort to reach compromise. >> averting this middle-class tax hike is not a democratic responsibility or republican responsibility. with their foes the american people have determined that governing is a shared responsibility between both parties in this congress laws can only pass with support from democrats and republicans, and that means nobody gets 100 percent of what they want. lou: there are only ten days remaining to the fiscal cliff. president obama headed to value within actually minutes, and members of congress have also gone home for chrrstmas vacation already. in a news conference today, speaker boehner admitted negotiations with the president have, indeed, been difficult. >> until the president on monday, these are my bottom lines. the president told me that his numbs, $1 trillion in new revenues, 850 billion in spending cuts was his bottom-line. he could not go any further. lou: and he didn't. the plan be op

" deadline less than a week from now. senate majority leader harry reid was reportedly at the capital on christmas working on a scaled-down plan to avoid tax hikes for all about the wealthiest americans. his plan would include short term spending cuts instead of long-term deals that had been sought. >>> from hawaii. comes word that president obama will cut short vacation and return to washington later today to take part in "fiscal cliff" negotiations. christmas day the president and first lady met with servicemembers and their families. the president told the marines he was grateful for their service and posed pour pictures. >>> recent college graduates are having a tough time getting jobs in their desired lines of work. according to the latest u.s. census figures about 2 60,000 young adults with college degrees in california are working in food service and retail. >> couldn't get a job in the field that i wanted to so i figured i have to start at the bottom. >> without higher paying jobs, it's that much harder for graduates to pay back student loans weapon tuition rising across the n

and the agreement is going down. i mean, for example, senate majority leader harry reid is name calling and calling john boehner a dictator . this is what he had to say. >> the american people i don't think the house representative is operating without the house of representative. it is being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker not allowing the vast majority of the house and representatives to get what they want. >> that sounds ridiculous f. it was a dictatorship boehner would have gotten that vote and he couldn' get the vote. what we should do honestly guys, is swan dive ov the fiscal cliff. let president obama own the fiscal cliff. it should be called the obama cliff. >> julia: people know how much they would have to pay. folks on the man on the street interviews . people are looking at the numbers going what. >> kelly: in today's meeting should be a crucial meet the white house should have come with its plan and boehner should have come with a plan and senator reid should come with a plan but senator reid is name call speaker of the house john boehner giving retaliation of what is done .

left for hawaii he had a meeting at the white house with senate majority leader harry reid and seeing both sides dig in on what they want and i think the smaller package, at least before new year's or right around the beginning of the year is probably the best to hope for. right now they're running out of time. lawmakers aren't returning to town, most of them, until tomorrow. the president won't be back until tomorrow and while most rank and file members won't be involved in the day-to-day negotiations of whatever this deal might be, they're going to have to vote for it. you saw right before christmas, speaker john boehner tried to move his own independent plan to raise taxes on income levels over a million dollars and he wasn't able to do that successfully. and i think it was a big sign about the difficulties he'll have even wrangling the majority of his caucus and so i think in order to get something done, anything done, to make sure that taxes don't increase on middle class americans, to make sure that the spending cuts don't start immediately, a lot of lawmakers are leary of them

reid today, but still there is no deal. the president took to the podium late this afternoon to explain the next step. >> in the next few days, i've asked leaders of congress to work towards a package that prevents a tax hike on middle class americans, protects unemployment insurance for 2 million americans and lays the groundwork for further work on both growth and deficit reduction. that's an achievable goal. that can get done in ten days. >> you know, president obama today could have come out, and he could have just punched boehner right in the nose. he could have come out and kicked the guy today when he was politically down. but the president came out today with a demeanor of, hey, let's do a deal. it was a rough night at the office, but let's not give up on this. president obama has gone back to the basics. the days of the grand bargain he knows are over. but the president wants an extension on tax cuts for income below $250,000, as well as extended unemployment benefits. what's wrong with that? spending cuts can be dealt with later on in the future. and, of course, as luck would

are in the senate and it will be up to harry reid and mitch connell and the president to try to come to a compromise to avoid the tax hikes and spending cuts that go into effect on the first of the year. president obama had been working with house speaker john boehner and trying to get a big deal that dealt with tax reform and deficit reduction. that fell apart and talks have largely been stalled this entire time. there was a lost pressure to get something done. we have seen some of the impacts of the fiscal cliff. consumers saying they have been more cautious with their holiday spending because of the uncertainty in washington. economists warn it could get worse and the markets could be foiled if we go over the fiscal cliff. taxes will go up for the average american by about $2,000 and could put us back into a recession. >> which nobody wants to see. kristen welker in hawaii. the president is coming back, but they haven't gotten the 48 hour notice. they are very much out there in play. thank you very much for joining us. appreciate it. when the senate returns tomorrow morning, there will be a new e

are still pretending to work. >> people don't like congress. >> it is up to the senate to act. >> harry reid is working on legislation. >> harry reid, the congress and the president. >> the president is cutting his hawaii vacation short to deal with the fiscal cliff. >> really, it's kind of like falling down stairs. we have a dysfunctional congress. >> speaker boehner needs to bring his party along. >> it's pretty clear that he could not bring them along. >> john boehner doesn't seem to have full control of his caucus. >> they were this close. >> the republicans will be blamed. >> they were this close to a solution. >> we're going to head over that cliff. >> i know it's hard for the republicans. the minute those leaders move forward, they get viscerated. >> guns shouldn't be available for anyone, any time, anywhere. >> the conversation still wages on. >> its plan to add more guns to schools. >> a completely dumb-ass idea. >> i don't think the nra is listening. >> you can call it whatever you want to call it. >> congress hasn't confirmed the director of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and fire

: this morning, the senate's democratic majority leader, harry reid, was blunt about chances for a deal. and he blamed house speaker john boehner. just before christmas, boehner floated his so-called "plan b"-- letting taxes rise on millionaires. but faced with opposition in republican ranks, he pulled it, and sent the house home for the holiday. reid charged today politics explained why the speaker had not yet called the house back. >> john boehner seems to care more about keeping his speakership than keeping the nation on a firm financial footing. it's obvious what's going on. he's waiting until january 3 to get reelected to speaker before he gets serious about negotiations. >> warner: a boenhner spokesman shot back, "harry reid should talk less and legislate more." but late today, republican leaders put out word that the house will reconvene on sunday. yesterday, they challenged the senate to take the next step, by extending the bush-era tax cuts for all income groups. in a joint statement, they said, "the house will take... action on whatever the senate can pass, but the senate first must a

the focus shifts to the senate. senate majority leader harry reid, minority leader mitch mcconnell will have to try to hammer out some sort of a compromise to avoid going over the cliff, but as you pointed out in your introduction, a lot of senators over the weekend expressed concern that, in fact, we will go over the fiscal cliff. of course, if is that happens, the economy could eventually slip back into recession. one interesting point, thomas, though, last time that members of congress worked between christmas and new year's was 1996. that was during the government shutdown. this is really a rare occurrence for members of congress to have to come back and work out legislation that they went able to get done before the christmas holiday. >> the president is supposed to stay there for how long? >> well, of course, the white house not really giving us specifics about the president's travel plans at this point in time. the reality is i think the president is himself trying to figure out what he is going to do, but we do expect that he will cut his vacation short. you've heard the president hi

a few other loose ends. so far, though, senator reid has so fbeen in touch with republicans over this plan. blicans ovent and the first lady as you mentioned, are here in hawaii. th atte also attended senator inouye's funeral this weekend. this is the president's first real vacation, jeff, in about a year. real nut he's cutting it short, heading home later this week to bu heading hothe fiscal cliff as well. lor:lor: nancy, the white house ouses they have a much better chance dealing with reid as opposed to boehner? >> well, jeff, essentially they're hoping-- democrats are-- that republicans will consider piis plan even if they don't rike it the last train leaving the station so that even if this is not the package that republicans would have chosen, en,t they'll vote for it anyway vote fe otherwise taxes will go taxor everyone on january 1. >> glor: nancy cordes in hawaii. nancy, thank you. the fiscal cliff could mean severe cutbacks and layoffs in cliff couelds, like many medical research. that's forcing leaders to make mugh choices right now. here's wyatt andrews. he andreporte

is more from washington d.c. >> reporter: senate for harry reid is trying to get republicans on board with the president's latest offer including raising taxes on those making 400,000 a year not 250,000. senator harry reid will pass this plan and does not want to put it to a vote unless he knows it will pass the housement they want to avoid fitting the call. house speaker john boehner held a meeting with fellow gop leaders and said he would give them 48 hours before calling them back from their holiday vacation meaning saturday is the earliest time a fiscal vote could take place on this deal. treasury secretary tim geithner said the united states will hit the debt ceiling on monday unless he takes extraordinary measures. they believe it could force congress to come up with a deal before monday's deadline but some republicans are not as optimistic. live in washington, ktvu channel 2 morning news. >>> they set $2 billion for unit who made her first court appearance. she was drunk when she hit a group of people. the woman was knocked up to a hill and she was studying criminal justice bef

continue to play the blame game here. senate majority leader reid attacked house leader boehner for blocking a vote while the gop led house isn't due back until sunday, a day before the deadline to avert the tax increases and spending cuts that could send the nation into recession again. the differences between the two sides, democrats want to raise money on everyone earning more than $250,000 a year. the president offered to up that to $400,000. republicans ejected new taxes, even though the speaker proposed on those earning a million dollars. instead, the gop wants deeper cuts. with the clock ticking, neither side is giving up ground. >> american people i don't think understand the house of representatives is operating without the house of representatives. it's being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker not allowing the vast majority of the house of representatives to get what they want. >> this is a conversation we should have had months ago. and republicans aren't about to write a blank check for anything senate democrats put forward just because we find ourselves at

gap measure, temporary measure before the new year? >> well, you just heard from senator reid he's pessimistic. i told you he's probably one of the biggest pes mists on the planet but i think in this particular case he has good reason to be pessimistic. the one thing that i think is important to also note is that what reid is telling people privately, i'm told, is that he doesn't want to bring anything up for a vote unlil he is sure it will pass both houses of congress and one of the reasons for that is a political one. he knows republicans won't want to take a vote to effectively increase taxes for that reason, to say i did it because i want to make sure most americans kept their tax cuts in place but also because of the markets. they really feel here if they take a failed vote and we still go over the fiscal cliff it will make the market reaction even worse than it would be if the fiscal cliff just happens which is not going to be a good scene probably. >> dana, that ing you very much. we'll be back with you in a half hour. >>> the adupgs of a russian child was almost complete.

and they are scattered throughout the country and taxes are going up on january 1st. let's listen to harry reid. he is not happy about the house and being away. he is the top senate democrat. >> we are here in washington working. we have the house of representatives out watching movies and watching their kids play soccer and basketball and doing all kinds of things. they should be here. >> here's a reality. reid said it's beginning to look to him as though we will plunge over the cliff come tuesday. they are keeping an eye on washington to see what develops. since it looks as though we are headed for higher taxes, i want to bring in terry savage, a personal finance expert for the chicago sun times. terry, let's walk through the higher taxes. we heard little class families are likely to lose $2,000 a year. you break it down this way for single earners making $85,000 a year if their take home pay is $2500 every two weeks. when the higher taxes kick in, they will see their pay go down $120. that's not a little. we are taking a major hit. >> this is big money. almost $400 a month. when you add up a cou

obama, harry reid and the tea party. >> jamie: let's get michael in here. michael, at this point what can the president do? he's on vacation and the american people are wondering, they're selling off houses, selling off stock. they don't know what next year looks like. >> in the interest of communication, not where the president is at christmas, but speaker boehner basically asked harry reid to figure out how to get a package that he can get 100 republican votes in the house of representatives on and harry reid is very good at figuring out the compromise that angela just talked about. i completely agree with angela's point, that the tea party has the speaker held hostage. a half dozen members or so, under no circumstances can we vote for taxes even on people over a million dollars, so i predict that we probably get over the cliff and that allows republicans to say, well, i only voted to cut taxes for 99%. i hope they get it done the second after it enacts so people don't feel it in their pocket books as they go into the new year. >> but, jamie, michael-- >> i have to leave it there. >

possible we've learned from sources as senate majority leader harry reid works to get republican support in the senate, which he will need if he's going to pass a bill. and so we're still waiting to see exactly what it will look like that the white house wants for the threshold on income tax rates to cut off at $250,000. we will see if that ultimately is what senate majority leader reid rolls out. as of this point in time, we're expecting this to be a limited measure to deal just really with the fiscal cliff, which was supposed to be appear incentive to deal with the long-term fiscal health of the country. not part of this, obviously looking at a big package. >> can you do this even if everything goes right? getting through the two houses. i don't think the house is anywhere near -- they couldn't get a million collars for the cap of the tax rates expiring. so what is the position of the white house aides and the people are you talking to there in terms much getting a deal done? >> well, the difference would be, and when you remember plan "b" failed. it failed to garner enough support amo

are at punch bowl, national military cemetery on the island where the senator will be buried. harry reid has been making a speech moments ago and telling a where senator bob dole like senator inouye, they recuperated in michigan and later served in the senate together, bob dole walked up to the casket and lifted his left hand, his right hand was badly damage and saluted. a poignant moment. president obama at the washington cathedral, it was his really earliest political inspiration. both the president and senate majority leader reflecting on daniel inouye both a long time legislator but two days they will be getting back to work on the fiscal cliff. >> heather: the difficult job of reporting from hawaii, thank you so much, ed. >> gregg: the mother of john hammer telling her son is now in a louisiana hospital. he was released from a mexican prison last week after months behind bars. mexican authorities arrested him after he carried an antique shotgun into their country, even though he says he legally declared the weapon and had a permit for it. today his dad reportedly brought him to the emer

controlled unfortunately by the right wing pickwick that leaves it up to harry reid and the rest of the senate to find a solution. the plan would avoid tax increases and would eliminate some big spending cuts and restore unemployment benefits. >> you are likely to see a two- step process. >> without a deal, bush era tax cuts will expire on january 1. congress set up the deadline hoping it would force a compromise. so far that has a compromise in. also flyback will be brian schatz. he will be replacing daniel inouye and will likely be sworn in later today. danielle leigh, wbal-tv 11 news. >> with the new year comes new state laws. >> kim dacey has more on what to expect. >> on tuesday, a dozen new state laws will go into effect. some were highly discuss. one allows gay couples to marry as of january 1. baltimore city elections will now be held in the same cycle as the presidential elections. for veterans, the department of veterans affairs will be required to give out something of their status. another new law will make it easier to protect kids and disabled -- a parent or guardia

on everyone over 2 thift,000 to go up. >> ?ar majority leader harry reid who has gotten involved, helpful or hurtful? >> i don't know if they are serious. there is talk democrats want to go over the fiscal cliff. if no action is taken by december 31st, everyone's tacks go up. that gives more revenue to the federal government and the president can decide who he will propose tax cuts for. i think the democrats feel it could go over the cliff. everyone's taxes will be gone up. >> automatically. >> what would happen to spending if you went over the cliff? >> you would have automatic spending cuts come in which in some cases mate be good, but could december mate defense. and that's the real concern i have is that these cuts are almost arbitrarily 50-50 and the defense is not 50% of the budget, and they will drastically cut weapon systems and the deployment of our troops. >> i can understand that you would be concerned about that. in terms of this christmas break now that you are home and the president is in hawaii, but the president suggested it is a cooling off period for everyone. are you op

inouye's funeral yesterday, along with other washington insiders, including his friend senator harry reid. he represented hawaii in congress ever since it became a state in 1959 and was the second-longest serving senator in u-s history. inouye received the medal of honor for his heroism during world war two. inouye died a week ago at accepts total responsibility senator michael crapo was arrested in virginia shortly after midnight, saturday night. alexandria police say the idaho republican ran a red light, then failed several field sobriety tests. police say crapo's blood alcohol level was point-one- one ; the legal limit for drivers in virginia is point-oh-eight. in a statement released by his office, crapo said he was -- quote -- "deeply sorry for the actions that resulted in this limit in virginia. the deputy police chief says an investigation is underway to determine whether the killing was intentional or accidental. it was not known whether the victim was a military orthe nato military command says it's looking into the bay area's favorite way the biggest parties and heenan and gary

and it was no surprise that harry reid was meeting yesterday, it would be a short-term fix to prevent the fiscal cliff. the other is the grand bargain, and time is running out, it's unlikely you will get something like that, however, there's a chance that john boehner and republicans say, mr. president, the last offer that you had on the table, we agree to. and the third option is going over the fiscal cliff and as my colleague has pointed out time and time again, that seems to be the more likely option for everyone, because you end up going over and then that would allow republicans to countenance cutting taxes the way that president wants to do and that seems to be the direction we will be going. >> that third option, juftd going over the cliff, what are you hearing from the white house? is there a sense of confidence that if that were to happen that they would rebound better than republicans? >> reporter: well there's a sense in part, if you look at the polls, the majority of americans say they would blame republicans if the country were to go over the fiscal cliff. the white house feels they are i

for the end of the year. nothing is stirring, not even harry reid. yes, i'm still in the christmas spirit. the president meanwhile is in hawaii and won't be returning until tomorrow. now, normally nothing happening would not be big news in washington. nothing happening is kind of the status quo in washington. getting nothing done is to our political system as saying great is to tony the tiger. it's just kind of what we do now. right now, this week, nothing happening is huge news. the reason is that usually when washington doesn't do anything nothing happens. you do nothing, nothing happens. that's how it goes. in fact that's why people call it doing nothing. after you do it, nothing occurs. if washington doesn't do something, a lot happens. all the bush tax cuts expire, the payroll tax cuts expire. doctors participating in medicare, see their reimbursements cut by more than 25%. good luck getting a doctor then. more than a trillion dollars in spending cuts are triggered. the economy probably falls back into recession, and merry christmas and happy new year from washington to you, the amer

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